Elements
Friday 22nd May to Monday 8th June 2026
DORSET ART WEEKS VENUE 187
Andy Rollo - painting
Kirsty Rickard - printmaking
Adam Clark - photography
Richard Longden - ceramics
Andy Rollo
I am an artist and lecturer in Fine art and Visual Culture who has lived in North Dorset for the past 15 years. I have work in private collections in Europe, Australia and the United States and have exhibited in London, Paris and Barcelona over a thirty year career.
My creative practice has always been in response to my immediate surroundings and the exploration of time, memory, cycles, connections and patterns in nature. The work also explores the thin line between abstraction and figuration, most obviously observed on the surface of each painting with its juxtaposition of differing mediums, descriptive marks and intuitive gestures designed to provide the impression of twig, branch, moss, fern and so on.
For me the striking landscape of the southwest has become a place of sanctuary in recent years and symbolises strength and protection, fragility and mortality, steadfastness and long life. The tree withstands whatever nature throws at it, and we have had to do the same, whilst continually being reminded of our own mortality and the passing of time.
The process
Over the last six years I have immersed myself in the landscape and woodland of Dorset, and more recently Devon, choosing to paint unassuming, almost incidental subjects. I focus in on the complexity of moss clad trees, the quality of light falling on the woodland floor and abstract shapes and forms, building up surfaces that suggest rather than outright describe. I juxtapose dabs and dashes, palette knife marks, washes and impasto together with a mix of oils, acrylic, marble dust, cold wax encaustic, oil bars and spray paint.
The works develop from repeated visits to a particular location where I may take photographs and produce sketches before returning to my studio where I produce a series of soft pastel sketches, acrylic studies prior to selecting particular compositions to develop into oil paintings on canvas or board. I aim to evoke a memory of a place and the sensation of being in within the, almost, cathedral like atmosphere and sensation of these magnificent locations.
Web-site: www.andyrollo.com
@ADRolloartist
